Sorina Week 2018
by ninag95
Summary: I thought it would be fun to try my hand at writing some short one-shots for Sorina Week after seeing a couple other people post amazing stories!
1. Roses

Erina sighed as she entered her office. _Another bouquet from Professor Suzuki._ She stared at the newest addition to her collection. Beautiful pink roses were displayed in a vase on her desk. She tugged at the card attached by a ribbon and read the message out loud.

 _"I hope these flowers brighten your day like your smile brightens up mine."_

"Whoa, nice flowers, Nakiri! Who sent you those?" Soma's cheerful voice interrupted her thoughts, startling her, and she whirled around in agitation.

The headmistress barked, "Yukihira! Who told you it was okay to enter my office without asking?"

Soma shrugged, "The guards don't stop me anymore. They know it's useless." He strolled up to her and gazed intently at the indoor garden she had in her office. Each vase had a gorgeous bouquet of different flowers and today's was no exception. The bright pink roses exuded love and beauty.

Soma cocked an eyebrow and whistled, "This guy's serious, huh?"

Erina grumbled, "I suppose so."

Soma asked teasingly, "So am I gonna be invited to the wedding?"

She growled in response, "There isn't going to be a wedding! There is nothing going on between me and the professor! He just won't stop sending me these flowers and now I'm up to my neck in plants. Honestly, this is incredibly rude. As if I have time to take care of these." She threw up her hands exasperatedly and sat down in her chair.

Soma's eyes widened, and he exclaimed excitedly, "Ooh, in that case do you mind if I take these?" He pointed towards the pink Damascus roses she had just acquired.

Erina replied warily, "What could you possibly need flowers for?"

 _A girlfriend? No way, Yukihira doesn't like anyone like that! Does he?_

Soma rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Eh, it's not really something I'm ready to tell people about yet if that's alright with you…if not, it's cool!"

Erina's eyes widened in response to his strange admission and she wordlessly motioned for him to take them, stunned.

Soma grabbed the bouquet from her desk and smiled brilliantly, "Thanks, Nakiri! I'll get out of your hair now!"

Erina watched him leave, confused and a little jealous. Could he have a secret girlfriend he hadn't told anyone about? Was it one of his friends and they were keeping it quiet to not make things weird at the dorm?

She felt something violently twisting in her gut at the thought of him delivering HER bouquet to some other girl. _Buy your own damn flowers!_

She tried to go back to her work with little success. She kept experiencing wave after wave of anxiety as she filled out her paperwork. _Why do I care who he gives those to? If he wants to keep it a secret, then so be it. It's not like we're friends!_

An hour passed, and she had been staring at the same page for roughly half that time. _Damn it!_

She packed up her things and immediately called a car to take her to his dorm. As they drove past the campus, Erina spotted his distinctive motorcycle outside one of the buildings. She hastily yelled for the driver to pull over. _A secret tryst in a classroom? Real classy, Yukihira!_

As she marched up to the building, she was steaming with anger. Not about the fact that he had some secret girlfriend (obviously!), but at the sheer audacity to re-gift a bouquet intended for another girl. It was just rude! She would be doing the girl a favor by demanding he give her flowers back; this way, he could go out and properly buy some himself. Preferably ugly ones.

She poked her head into a few of the empty classrooms, but no annoying redhead in sight.

Suddenly, the smell of roses filled the air. She followed the heavenly scent towards the classroom at the end of the hall. She silently crept in to find Soma pulling a tray out of the oven. As he set the tray down, he glanced up to find the blonde staring curiously at him.

"Nakiri? What are you doing here?" He asked, the blush on his face evident.

She responded evenly, "I was going to ask for my flowers back. If they're for some secret girlfriend, you should have some sense of decency and buy them for her yourself." She walked in the classroom to take a closer look at what he was making.

Beautiful rose-shaped apple tarts were cooling on the tray, and the divine rose scent was coming from a sweet syrup on the counter. They made eye contact, and he laughed, "Secret girlfriend? You thought that was what I didn't want to tell you about?"

She blushed and crossed her arms loftily, "Well, what else was I supposed to think?!"

He shook his head and grinned, "It didn't even occur to me you would take it that way. Uh, no, my 'secret' is that I'm trying to make Momo's Queen Apple Tart she made at the Regiment de Cuisine. She made it look so easy but making the little roses was actually a lot harder than I thought. I gotta hand it to her, the girl's got skills."

Erina scoffed, "Obviously she has skills. She was the fourth seat!"

A wave of relief washed over her at hearing his confession. Why had she been so worried about him having a girlfriend? Obviously, he didn't! Who would want to date him?

She asked perplexedly, "Why didn't you want to tell anyone about this?"

He laughed, "I don't know, I guess it's embarrassing that I even had to practice. I always thought desserts were supposed to be the easiest."

She shook her head and replied, "Desserts are an art form in themselves. It can take years to master not only the actual baking but the decorating."

Soma nodded, "I can see that now. I don't think they turned out too bad though, do you?"

She smiled at his attempt. They weren't bad at all, but they definitely weren't as good as Momo's. "While I can't say I haven't seen better, I'd prefer a bouquet of these than Professor Suzuki's any day."

She hadn't meant much by her words, other than how little she thought of the professor's gifts, but Soma felt slightly victorious hearing her statement. He passed her a rose and drizzled some of the syrup on it and prepared one for himself as well.

"Cheers," he playfully tapped his apple tart against hers.

She giggled as she watched him try to catch some of the syrup that had drizzled off the rose with his tongue before it hit the counter. He grinned at her fit of laughter when he showed her his trashcan of failed attempts. Her heart fluttered as she stole a glance at him delicately moving the roses into the bread basket.

 _Who would want to date him?_


	2. Balcony

"I've got them!" Alice exclaimed chirpily, a stack of Teen Vogue, Seventeen, and People magazines in her arms. She jumped on Erina's king-sized bed and threw them down, causing them to bounce in all directions in front of the girls.

Megumi, Yuki, Ryoko, and Ikumi had been invited for a sleepover at the Nakiri mansion. It was the first time the heiresses (and Hisako) had hosted a sleepover, and Alice was determined to make it the best one ever. She had rented 3 different romantic comedies, whipped up cookies, brownies, and homemade ice cream, and bought all the trashy magazines she could find.

Erina leisurely flipped through the closest one until her eyes grew wide. She sputtered out, "T-twenty kissing tips that will blow his mind?! Alice, what kinds of magazines are these?!" She dropped it as if it had burned her, and she grabbed another, skimming hastily. She read aloud in horror again, "Ten signs he really likes you?"

She gaped openly at her cousin, who smirked at Erina's discomfort. Alice giggled, "Why are you so boring, Erina? They're just girly magazines! They're supposed to be fun!" The white-haired girl picked up a Seventeen magazine and flipped to the quizzes section. "Ooh, I'm going to find out 'if my crush likes me as more than a friend'. Does anyone have a pen?"

Ikumi peered over her shoulder inquisitively, face red. She muttered, "Let me borrow that when you're done."

Yuki giggled, "This is so fun! I'm going to read the horoscopes! Erinacchi, what's your sign?"

Erina rolled her eyes but nonetheless replied, "Aries."

Yuki found the entry for Aries and she gasped, reading aloud, "An unexpected love interest will be known to you as expansive Jupiter makes a homecoming to Sagittarius!" Alice and Yuki squealed at the scandalous entry, and Alice shrieked, "Do me! I'm Aquarius!"

Erina scoffed loudly, interrupting their excitement, "This isn't real! They put stuff that could apply to anyone on these things!"

Suddenly, they heard a light tap at the window. All the girls turned their heads towards Erina's balcony just in time to see a pebble hitting the glass, causing the same tapping noise.

Megumi murmured, "What is that?"

All at once, the girls heard Soma Yukihira's muffled voice from outside.

"Nakiriiiiiii!"

Erina's pulse raced rapidly just at the sound of his voice. _What is he doing here?!_ The girls all stared at each other in amusement as they continued to listen to Soma's chattering from below.

"Nakiri, Nakiri, wherefore art thou, Nakiri?" He called out dramatically.

Alice rolled over silently laughing at Erina's alarmed expression. Megumi, Ryoko, and Yuki all giggled as they were quite fond of their dormmate's silly antics.

Erina got up unsteadily from the bed and crept towards the balcony silently. She swung the great double doors open and leaned over the railing to find golden eyes gleaming with mirth.

He continued, "Deny thy father and refuse thy name. That's how it goes right? Pretty spot on for you, don't you think?"

She hissed out into the dark, "Yukihira, what are you doing here?!"

He responded, "You wouldn't answer your phone! I have something for you!" He held out a thick binder in his hands and yelled, "Come down and get it!"

She crossed her arms and exclaimed exasperatedly from above, "No! It's 10 PM and I have guests over! Come back during business hours and you can deliver it then!"

He shook his head insistently, "It's super important! You said so yourself! Please, it'll only take a second!"

Alice came out towards the balcony to join her cousin and she lazily waved a few fingers in Soma's direction. Soma waved back cheerfully and pleaded to her instead, "Alice, tell Nakiri to come downstairs!"

Alice grinned like a Cheshire cat and yelled back, "Why don't you just come up?"

Erina turned to her, absolutely shocked, and lightly hit her on the arm. "Are you crazy?! He can't come up here!"

Just as the cousins were about to fight, Soma called out loudly again, "Nakiri, Nakiri, let down your hair!"

Erina gaped at him open mouthed and he laughed, "I'm not going to stop until you come down that balcony. If you don't, I'm coming up."

She glared, "As if. How would you come up?!"

Alice perked up and called out to the boy below them, "Ooh, I'll help you! Be right back!"

Erina growled at her cousin's retreating figure and she turned her attention back to Soma, who was staring intently at the rose trellis by the balcony.

 _He wouldn't…_ She thought anxiously, as she followed his train of thought.

Soma's eyes flickered back to hers and the corner of his mouth barely raised, hinting at what he was about to do.

 _He would._

Soma took a running start and lightly jumped onto the stable trellis, climbing a little clumsily with the bulky binder under his arm. Erina slapped her hands over her eyes; she wasn't about to watch this idiot fall 15 ft in the air and lose even more IQ points than he already had.

Hearing footsteps land on her balcony, she hesitantly opened her eyes to reveal a panting but grinning Soma. He let the binder slip from under his arm and he let out a shaky laugh, "Why didn't you just come down?! That would've been so much easier!"

He gave her an adorable smile that made her heart skip a beat and she grumbled, "I told you I had guests! It would be rude to leave, and besides, you're the uninvited one here!"

Soma peered into her room to find all his female friends huddled together, staring at him. He waved animatedly, "Oh shit, I forgot you had that sleepover tonight!"

He started to go in to say hi to everyone but Erina stopped him with a firm hand on his chest. "Yukihira!" She cried out, "Can you please focus?!"

Soma cackled, "Ah, sorry!" at her unamused expression. He was about to hand her the binder when he suddenly noticed she was wearing different pajamas from what she had worn when she stayed with them in the dorms. Much cuter ones. In fact, _she_ looked cute.

Soma couldn't help but stare and he asked, "New pajamas?"

Erina forgot she had been wearing a pink polka dotted tank top and shorts, and she quickly moved her long hair in front to cover her body. "Pervert! Stop staring at me!"

Soma grinned and apologized, "Sorry, I didn't mean to. You just look different."

Erina gave him a confused look and muttered, "What do you mean?"

He shrugged and replied, "I don't know, like normal."

At this, she fumed and yelled, "What the hell does that mean?!"

Soma raised his hands defensively and stammered out, "Uhhh, I didn't mean it in a bad way! I just meant that I never see you outside your uniform and what you wore at the dorms was different? You always look nice, don't get me wrong! I just—"

Erina's scowl froze him to his spot and he shut his mouth immediately.

The blonde rubbed the bridge of her nose tiredly and held out her hand. "Pass me the binder."

He wordlessly placed it in her hands and she ripped out the contents. As her eyes skimmed the papers, her purple eyes flicked up to meet his. She said impatiently, "Yukihira, what the hell was so urgent about these? I don't need these for another two days."

Soma's jaw dropped and he exclaimed, "You literally sent me an email a week ago marking it as the highest level of priority with a million stars saying this was due no later than tonight! That was why I rushed over here and called you a million times!"

She began, "What? Why would I-" Then burst into a fit of laughter.

Erina continued to giggle much to Soma's great confusion and she confessed, "I told you that because you're always late with your paperwork! I can't believe it worked. I don't need these for a few more days."

He stared in shock and began laughing along with her. He groaned, "So I did all that for nothing?!"

She stopped giggling and responded sharply, "Not for nothing! These are still urgent and need to be processed! If I hadn't lied to you, you would have turned them in late, no doubt."

He grinned sheepishly, "I guess you know me pretty well, huh, Nakiri?"

She blushed and replied primly, "A good headmistress knows how to manage her Elite Ten members efficiently."

Alice suddenly came back in the room, arms full of cloth. "Oh, you made it up. I brought my handy escape rope!" She had used it many times to sneak out when her grandfather had kept someone standing at alert by her door to make sure she didn't leave the mansion with Ryo.

Soma laughed, "I can use it on my way back down!"

He secured the end of the rope to the balcony and hoisted himself over carefully. Before he rappelled down, he gave Erina a cheeky wink and said, "Have fun at your sleepover. Try not to stay up too late; you get cranky when you don't get enough sleep."

She gasped and began untying the rope so he'd fall, but he quickly made his way down laughing merrily.

"Goodnight, Nakiri! Sweet dreams!" He called out teasingly, meeting her eyes once his feet were back on the ground. A hint of a smirk graced her face and she replied quietly, "Goodnight, Yukihira," before whirling around from high above him to re-enter her palace.


	3. Angels & Demons

High above in the ethereal heavens, Erina Nakiri was preparing for the descent onto Earth. She fluffed out her beautiful white wings and stared remorsefully. Soon she would have to hide them from sight, for humans were not supposed to know about the existence of angels.

God called out to her and asked, "Are you ready to go? The other angels are waiting for you."

She nodded, excited about the prospect of returning to Earth to impart goodwill upon all its creatures, good and evil alike. They often made trips like these to promote goodness and love throughout the planet. The angels would disguise themselves as humans and show compassion and kindness towards everyone they met, encouraging the humans to do so as well. After all, kindness was contagious; it was a fact that shortly after their visits, the Good Meter rapidly shot up. However, just as quickly as it went up, it eventually sank back down to where it had been before. The humans fell back into their old selfish and greedy ways once the angels had left.

This was why their trips down to Earth had become more frequent. They wanted to continue promoting goodness! However, each angel also had a responsibility in the heavens, and these trips were getting all too time-consuming. Especially as God's right hand, Erina had enough on her plate as it was. But she diligently went on the treks to Earth, as no task was more important than this. After all, the humans below were their potential pools of angel applicants. They needed to invest time and energy in finding the next angels who would eventually join them.

Erina was joined by her counterparts, and they all dutifully folded in their wings and joined hands. God announced to all, "Do well, my angels! Promote positivity and love with every encounter you have, especially those who need it most."

They were transported to Earth in a heavenly beam of light, landing inconspicuously in an alley. Erina instructed, "Alright everyone, you know what to do. I encourage you all to touch as many people's lives as you can; after all, we're trying to promote goodness. Without the good people on this earth, we'd never have any new angels."

They all nodded reverently and she sent them off, calling out, "We'll meet back in a week!"

As Erina ventured off into the city to find some good to do, she could feel the heads turning on the street, but she ignored them. She was used to the odd stares by now. Even though she had hidden her wings, everyone could tell there was something strange about her. Otherworldly, even. Her long, golden hair reached down past her waist, and her angelic face with hypnotizing amethyst eyes were enough to turn any hardened criminal into a good Samaritan.

Erina spent the day visiting orphanages, helping the children while also keeping an eye on the volunteers for potential recruits. She had just finished playing with all the adorable kids when she saw one of them crying by themselves in a corner. She approached the child and bent down, stroking her hair lovingly. "There there," she murmured soothingly, "What happened? Why are you crying?"

The girl sniffed and wiped her eyes with chubby fingers and whined, "The mean man stole my candy!"

Erina cocked her head in question, "Which man, sweetheart?" She didn't see anyone enter or exit the orphanage in the time she had been there.

The little girl cried again, "He's not here anymore! It was like magic!"

Erina sighed and continued stroking her hair, "Sometimes people do bad things, but that doesn't make them bad people. We should learn to forgive him. Maybe he needed the candy!"

The girl sniffed, "Maybe…"

Erina smiled, "I'm sure he wanted to thank you and he just didn't have time. I'll go find him and make sure he says thank you."

The blonde angel hastily got up and sped out towards the street. This was a learning opportunity for both the child and the man! The little girl could learn to forgive those who had done her wrong, and the man would see how his actions affected others!

Erina's head whipped from side to side, now on the open street, but she didn't even know who she was looking for! She closed her eyes and said a little prayer, asking God to send her a sign.

She felt something materialize in her hand, and when she opened her eyes, there was a small golden compass. She chuckled at her new toy: a moral compass. She opened it to find the needle swaying precariously east. Got him.

She followed the compass excitedly and felt it grow warmer in her hands as she apparently got closer to the culprit. She couldn't take her eyes off the needle, weaving in and out of the pedestrians on the street until she found herself bumping into a mess of wild hair the color of fire.

Enchanting golden eyes turned around to meet hers, and Erina felt a warm tingle trace down her spine, the telltale sign of an angel laying eyes on a demon. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she felt all rational thoughts leave her brain, as they always did whenever this demon was around.

The man stared back in shock and mild amusement. There he was, minding his own business, spreading mischief and chaos, when all of a sudden someone had bumped into him. He had been about to turn around and tell them to go to hell (his favorite place), when he recognized those beautiful purple eyes, and he had felt feathers tickle his neck.

They both were frozen by surprise in the middle of the street, before Erina finally regained her composure and growled through gritted teeth, "You… I should've known."

The demon greeted her warmly, "Long time no see, Nakiri! I've missed you around here! No one else around here is fun to play with like you."

She fumed at his casual greeting, crossing her arms angrily, "Really, Yukihira? That's how you address me after literally stealing candy from a baby?" She nodded towards the lollipop hanging leisurely from his lips, and she could see a devilish smirk form around the candy.

The demon cocked an eyebrow at her abrupt bossiness and shrugged casually, "It's mine now. Finders keepers."

Erina bristled, "You didn't find it, you stole it! Give it back now!"

Soma grinned charmingly, and she found herself entranced by his handsome features, as she had countless times in the past. He, too, was clearly otherworldly. There was something innately dangerous and alluring about this devilish man. She could see how he could easily cause trouble.

He laughed, "This is why you're my favorite, Nakiri! I thought angels were supposed to be boring, but not you. You could be a little nicer though," he commented offhandedly, recalling the millions of times over the millennia she had insulted and rebuked him.

Erina spat out, "Not to the likes of you. You and your friends are the reason our work is so difficult!"

He pretended to be upset and pouted, "Hey, I could say the same! We're just trying to have a little fun but you guys make everyone have sticks up their butts."

Erina shrieked back almost immediately, "Being a good person doesn't make you uptight!"

He watched her tense and her fists were balled up angrily. Her bright pink cheeks and pouted lip only further signaled how upset she was with him, causing him to chuckle. He thoroughly enjoyed irritating Erina Nakiri whenever he saw her. Causing misery to a human was great, but annoying an angel was a million times more satisfying. They were always so peppy with their "holier than thou" attitudes. And this particular demon loved messing with this particular angel.

The redhead pointed up at the sky and joked, "Are you sure you're one of those? You've got the looks but your attitude is anything but angelic."

Erina barked, "Go to hell!" to which he winked, "Only if I can take you with me."

The blonde blushed and scowled. How was she still so hypersensitive around this demon after all these years? It must be a species thing. She announced suddenly, "Enough! You're coming with me to return this candy."

She grabbed the Soma's arm and he smiled, "Hmm, thanks but I'll have to pass. Let's catch up later though!"

POOF

With that, he was gone! Erina stumbled forward into nothingness and turned in confusion on the street. He had vanished into thin air and she had lost him.

Erina's week continued on without interruption; she had pushed her encounter with that annoying redhead to the back of her mind and she continued spreading love and compassion everywhere she went. When her time on Earth was up, the angels gathered together in the same place they had descended and were transported back to heaven.

Erina excitedly spread her creased wings and brushed them out until they regained their magnificent shape. She leisurely flittered around, happy to be home, before deciding to check the Good Meter. Every angel had their own monitor in their home to check how the humans were doing.

Overall, goodness seemed to be up 8%. Not bad, Erina thought critically. We've done better in the past but that was prob--

Erina's eyes froze when they saw her own numbers. Her personal record showed the goodness of the people she had personally been in contact with was down 12%! How was that possible?! She took pride in her ability to change people for the better, and she wasn't God's right hand angel for no reason. This was a downright lie. She soared through the sky before finding God and dropped herself at his feet.

She exclaimed in a rush, "Send me back to earth!"

God wondered, "Why? You were just there and you did excellent work!"

Erina shook her head, "Something's wrong, my numbers are off. I don't understand it, but I can't just leave them like that. I need to fix this." She pleaded with him until her voice went hoarse, and God smiled upon her. He boomed, "If you must go back to Earth, go. Continue your work, so that one day we may have a host of new angels joining us."

She bowed respectfully and prepared herself to go, bringing her moral compass with her.

Back on earth, she stalked back through her trail of good deeds. Every single place had been negatively affected somehow, almost as if someone had purposely undone her work… She had a gut feeling she knew who it was. Erina pulled out her compass and let it guide her halfway across the city, before she finally felt it heating up in her palm. She found him in a local park, cutting the locks on some bikes attached to a bike rack.

She furiously called out to him, "Soma Yukihira! You idiot!"

His head popped up and his eyes met hers, causing the warm tingle to trace down her spine. His bright smile and the naughty gleam in his eyes formed a weird fluttering feeling in her stomach, but she ignored it and continued towards him.

He waved over playfully, the wire cutters in his hand. "Yo, Nakiri! Two visits in such a short time! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

She ignored him, fuming, "Who do you think you are, undoing all my work? I know it was you!"

Soma quipped, "You don't know that for sure. It could've been anyone!" The redhead leaned in closely, allowing her to soak in every detail of his liquid gold eyes and the rugged little scar above his eyebrow. He whispered sardonically, "It may not have been anyone. Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are?"

Erina gasped and pushed him back in astonishment, "You know I'm God's right hand! I consistently have the best numbers out of all the angels, so I know for a fact someone had to have interfered. Don't try to deny it. Tell me why!"

She gave him her fiercest glare and he pretended to muse over this for a long time, hand on his chin as he stared off into the heavens thoughtfully. She was so cute when she was angry. He finally answered plainly, "Why would I cause mischief? Let me answer that with another question: why do you do good things? It's in our nature." He shrugged without giving it another thought and went back to work on cutting the locks.

She crossed her arms and stared down at him. Fine, if that's how he wants to do this, so be it. Two can play this game.

Erina crossed her arms menacingly and smirked, "You're right. It is in my nature to do good. You ruined my good deeds I performed this week, so I'm going to ruin your bad ones. For the rest of my time here, I will personally make sure none of your evil is spread."

The redhead stared amused at his favorite plaything. He confirmed, "So you're telling me the more bad shit I do, the more I'll get to see you? Not a very convincing argument for getting me to stop." Soma grinned at the blush spreading over her cheeks- it was just too easy.

She flipped her long golden hair over her shoulder and whirled around, stomping as angrily as she could manage, but even her stomps looked like she was gliding on air.

"Prepare for war, demon!" She called out over her shoulder, leaving Soma excited at the prospect of their newest battle.

Erina was constantly on Soma's tail over the next couple of days, and the demon was trying his hardest to pull out all the stops. Soma turned all the traffic lights red, causing massive road rage. He caused power outages throughout the city, causing widespread irritation and anger among its inhabitants. It wasn't enough though, as he found that Erina was always right behind him to clean up his mess.

However, even if she was cancelling out his evil deeds, it didn't mean he wouldn't still have fun with their competition. After knowing each other for thousands of years, Soma had a keen talent for irritating his favorite angel. This time, he chose to annoy her by leaving little messages for her at all the places he had messed with. When he had spray painted graffiti on some buildings, he had left a little drawing of an angel and a devil holding hands, which made Erina furious enough to scrub the walls herself instead of using her powers. He also planned for someone to get the wrong coffee order, so Erina persuaded the barista to give that person a free pastry. Just as she had been about to leave the coffee shop, the barista called out "I've got a Blonde Roast for an Angel?"

Soma had been using his power to vanish and hurry to the next spot where he planned to cause chaos, but Erina, with the help of her moral compass, was always on his tail. He had to admit, he loved it. Their rivalry was the only thing he loved more than pranking humans. Things had been getting pretty dull in hell lately; parties all the time, torture all the time. No struggle, no opposition. Whenever the blonde was on earth, it gave him an excuse to cause extra mischief. Yes, this was exactly what he needed to get his creative evil juices flowing!

For Erina, it was infuriating but strangely exhilarating to see the flicker of red hair off in the distance, knowing trouble was too close for comfort. How did this happen every time she came to earth? Why did she always end up in these competitive games with this demon? She hated to admit that she also secretly enjoyed their competition. She liked finding his hidden clues during their games of "good versus evil tag". She especially liked the way he played this game only with her, as if she were special. However, she aggressively maintained that she absolutely did not like the way he would wink at her or pop up behind her and whisper flirtatiously in her ear just to vanish again! It caused an uncomfortable twisting in her stomach and she felt like she couldn't breathe! No, she definitely just wanted to beat this stupid demon at his own game and prove once and for all that she was still better than him.

After a few days of their cat and mouse game, Erina decided to lay a trap for Soma. It was time to bring this match to a close.

She brought a spread of food to a local soup kitchen and waited, concealing herself with her powers. There was no way he would be able to resist messing with her one last time before she was due to head back to Heaven. Sure enough, Soma popped into the kitchen, a mischievous smile on his face. Erina's breath hitched nervously when she saw him. Must be the adrenaline…

The demon approached the food, gave a surreptitious glance around the room to make sure no one was watching, and waved his hand over the tray. Erina sprang out from her hiding place and before he knew it, she had secured a golden handcuff to one of his arms. The other was securely clasped around her own. She cheered triumphantly, "Ha! Finally!"

Soma smirked, and asked, "Seriously? Handcuffs? Haven't you been paying attention?" He attempted to pop out as quickly as he'd come but for some reason it didn't work. He tried again, but nothing happened.

She grinned victoriously, "They aren't normal handcuffs. These are blessed from God Himself. You aren't getting away that easily." Soma's frown intensified as he realized the predicament he was in. She sang cheerfully, "Now let's see, what were you going to do to this food for the needy? Poison it? Spoil it? Turn it into trash?"

She inspected the tray but everything looked the same. Nothing seemed out of place. She finally gave up and asked blankly, "What did you do?"

Soma grumbled, still upset at his capture, "I turned the chocolate chip cookies into oatmeal raisin."

Erina couldn't help but scoff, "That was your nefarious plan? Are you kidding me?"

Soma exclaimed, "Hey, people hate that!"

The angel smirked and commented, "I forgot how even for a demon, you've never been very evil."

He mumbled, "I know, evil isn't really my strong suit."

She laughed, "How are you a demon then? Isn't that supposed to be your 'thing'?"

He shrugged, "There are different sins and reasons why you'd be a demon. Plenty of us aren't super 'evil' but we're lazy or inconsiderate or greedy. Some are lustful." He winked at her, and she gaped at him, blushing at the indecency. He grinned, "Are you worried? Maybe you should've thought about that before you HANDCUFFED US TOGETHER."

Erina re-steeled her nerves and yelled back, "It was the only way to get you to stop! Which reminds me, we should get going. We're going to go fix all the things you ruined."

She dragged him out of the building and they began walking towards the last location he had caused damage. Soma groaned, "Why are we walking? Let's use some heavenly power or whatever to make us fly!"

Erina stated matter-of-factly, "Of course, but that doesn't mean I'm going to use it as openly as you do! You're going to get us caught with all your obvious popping in and out."

The demon complained, "What about these?" He shook the handcuffs so that they clanged loudly, and said, "This isn't a normal human thing."

She pulled him along and explained, "No one but other creatures can see these. They're basically invisible to the human eye."

Soma sneakily clasped her soft hand in his, causing Erina to yelp. He asked innocently, "What? It looks more natural this way. You're the one who doesn't want us to draw attention to ourselves."

Erina tried to ignore the pounding in her chest as she felt Soma's warm hand in hers; instead, she focused on pulling him down the street.

One by one, they stopped along the sites Soma had messed with. She made him return the stop sign he had hidden behind a bush, get all the cats down from trees, and together they helped an old lady cross the street. He was playing along surprisingly well, much to Erina's surprise.

At their final stop, the demon found himself staring at the little girl from the orphanage he had stolen the candy from on Erina's first day on earth. He shot an unbelieving glance at the blonde next to him and she glared expectantly. He conjured up a new lollipop behind his back and held it out to the child, scowling.

The little girl seemed conflicted at his offering but shook her head in the end and kindly said, "It's okay, you can keep it. Miss Nakiri said you needed it more than I do."

The devilish boy stared in dumb shock. He really thought he'd left a sour taste for trusting others in this kid's mouth but apparently not. He'd forgotten how impressive Erina really was. This was further proof of why he enjoyed challenging her whenever she was on earth: she truly was the best of the best. No one but she could keep him on his toes.

He stole a glance at the angel next to him, who was looking absolutely elated with her hands folded over her heart. In fact, she was positively glowing. A dim golden glow was emitting from her body and the demon was now the one who felt himself entranced. She's…heavenly… He felt his heart skip a beat and his whole body felt warmer as he continued staring at the fierce girl next to him. He'd always known that she was literally an ethereal beauty, but this was something else. He felt higher than he ever had just by being with her, his natural-born enemy.

She smiled towards him, clearly feeling superior that her work had paid off. Her smile was enough to set the poor demon's heart on fire and he felt overcome with nausea. Not only had he done nice things all day, but he actually respected, and possibly even LIKED, an angel! What the heaven is happening to me?

Erina noticed the odd expression on his face, and she asked, "What's wrong?"

He shook his head as if to force the horrible thought out of his head and pulled her off to the side, whispering, "Tone down the glowing. You're the one who's gonna get us caught!"

She looked down at her body and her eyes widened in alarm as she saw the golden aura flowing around. She quickly toned it down and muttered, "Sorry, I forget where I am sometimes. I think I have to go back soon."

Soma felt the familiar pang of disappointment knot up in his stomach at the idea of Erina leaving. The last few days had been a blast for him as they always were whenever she was around. Who knew when she'd be back? Weeks, months, years?

He stated confidently, "I think you should stay. If you leave, I'll definitely take over this whole city. You won't even recognize it when you come back."

She smirked challengingly, "As if, Yukihira. I'll just handcuff you to me again."

He winked, "Don't threaten me with a good time, Nakiri."

She blushed and muttered to herself, thinking aloud, "I suppose we do need someone here on call. Crime is getting worse and evil is at an all-time high…"

Soma exclaimed, a little too excitedly, "Exactly! My crew and I are working around the clock to cause mischief, but where's your team? No wonder we're kicking your butts!"

Erina shot back instinctively, "Not for long! I'll personally propose to God that I be stationed here so I can keep an eye on you!" She dragged him to a nearby alley where she planned to rise back up to heaven. She crossed her arms haughtily and said, "Are you ready for another battle, demon?"

The redhead grinned back, "I'll do anything if it's with you, angel."


End file.
